raragrim

I took a walk along the Royal Mile this morning, to find somewhere to have breakfast. I saw a place that did Scottish Breakfasts, but the only thing that seemed to make it different to an English Breakfast was the addition of Haggis, which I had yesterday, so I decided to look for something else. I walked to the “bottom” of the Royal Mile to Holywood Palace, the Queens Official Residence in Scotland, then back up a bit to where I came across “Cafe Truva Royal”, a Turkish restaurant. It looked really nice and cosy from across the street, so I decided to take a look. The first thing I saw when I looked in the window was Turkish sweets, truffles, cakes, desserts, and OMG, just lots of sugary goodness! I wish I could have taken ... read more

I’ve just got back from Greyfriars Church, where I took pictures of the graves of John Gray, Greyfriars Bobby and James Brown. Bobby was a skye terrier dog and he belonged to a man named John Grey who was a shepherd. When John Grey suddenly died of tuberculosis, at first Bobby wouldn’t let anyone near his body. A small funeral was arranged and as John Grey’s body was taken to the graveyard, Bobby followed behind, distraught at losing his friend. After the funeral was over, Bobby stayed behind and slept on John Grey’s grave. James Brown, the Sexton (a person who looks after a church and its graveyard), spotted Bobby at the grave, and at first he chased him away whenever he saw him there, but eventually he took pity and began feeding and looking after ... read more

I've just managed to find my way to Edinburgh castle, and man the roads up to it were STEEP! I saw the castle first from the airport transfer bus and wow. Incredible! It towers over the city looking very defensive and powerful (kinda the aim at the time it was built!) but looking at it in modern-day eyes (i.e. as a tourist destination) it’s very beautiful too. The first picture is the view I saw as I walked towards the castle ---> I bought an audio guide (£3.50 adult, at the time) when I bought my ticket online (£14 adult, at the time), and that was a good idea. They’re more informative than what’s written on the stone flag things attached to the walls around the castle, and they give you a good route to follow ... read more

I’ve stopped attempting to do relaxing breathing exercises to calm me down as the plane shoots off into the sky, and have decided to try to focus on writing in my diary instead! Oh hello turbulence! I thought the plane was quite high up until I looked up and out the window and noticed there were two planes very high above us. Wow. I wonder where they’re going and how I’d feel if I was on either of those planes! I’m nervous enough being this high! I managed to blag myself a window seat while some bloke was stood in an air hostess’ view! Win! That meant I was able to wave goodbye to my Mum, Dad and brother which was proper good! As scared as I am, looking out the window is actually helping! I’m ... read more